In Varanasi, in the year 2012, among the dead bodies floating down the Ganges, the corpses burning in the funeral pyres, amid the voracious touts and the Indians bathing in the polluted, trash-filled river, I noticed something disturbing and out of place: I saw a […]
All posts tagged: India Travel
India in Black and White
India Black and White Photos Click on any photo below to open a slideshow view.
17 Things I Learned While Traveling in India
India is incredible, as the tourism slogan says. I recently spent 64 days traveling around the massive country, from Delhi to Varanasi to Mumbai to Kerala. I had my mind blown on several occasions by the ancient sites, the chaos, the great food, and the […]
Top Photos of India Part 2: People
The curious, friendly and open people of India were the highlight of our recent trip. Everywhere we traveled on the sub-continent we met nice, kind locals who were often interested in a short conversation. Luckily for me, both adults and children are always keen to […]
Caught in Between Two Worlds in Goa, or Jeff and Kristi Try to Find their Place Amongst Travelers
In Goa, as if a metaphor for our travels in general, we were caught in between two worlds.
Bollywood Movie Review Time!
One of the great joys of Indian travel is going to the movies and watching Bollywood films. The films are oversized, dramatic musicals and seem to always have key phrases in English that help us to follow along. They are just plain fun. Jab Tak […]
Escaping the Chaos of India in Tranquil Pushkar
Somewhere in the mountain pass leading into Pushkar there must be some sort of wormhole that leads to another universe, because the place we spent the last three days sure didn’t feel like India. Mellow, peaceful Pushkar could be described as bucolic, a term you […]
Movie night at the Raj Mandir – 4 Differences between the Indian and American Movie Experience
We went to the elegant Raj Mandir movie theater to see the Bollywood film English Vinglish. The movie was mostly in Hindi with some English and was about an Indian woman in New York learning English. It was interesting to us on many levels as […]
Delhi = One Big Carnival
After day one I didn’t know if I’d like Delhi, but then I realized the following: Delhi is one big carnival. The street is full of food vendors, sales people, con artists, beggars, stray dogs, random cows, oxen pulling stuff, henna artists, colorful religious parades, […]
Being a Celebrity at Jama Masjid and Old Delhi
It isn’t uncommon for Kristi, with her fair skin and blonde hair, to attract a lot of attention in the Middle East and Asia. But today, we were both celebrities. And let me say, I like being loved by the masses. We went to the […]
Notes and Observations after 3 days in Delhi
After my first day in India, I thought to myself, “I could never like Delhi. This place is too crazy, too dirty, too chaotic for me to ever enjoy.” After three days here, I not only like it a lot, but I am a little […]
Stepping in cow poop, oppressive heat, relentless touts and other Expectations of India
India’s tourism motto is “Incredible India” and their advertisements show dazzling scenes of the Taj Mahal, wild tigers, the imposing Himalayas, medieval forts and brightly dressed locals. From these carefully selected images one would conclude that India is no doubt incredible. India can be a […]
Planet Bell 